Sad to see ya go Ryan, thanks for giving your all and being one hell of a team player. That said, TB, what are you thinking. You just went through a salary purge. You have overpaid players on your roster you're trying to get rid of. And now you go and way overpay for a good but not great player. Not to mention the fact that you play in Florida and can't fill your building.

Ryan Malone has agreed to a seven year, $31.5 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Malone, who would have drawn considerable interest from around the NHL as an unrestricted free agent, will earn between $7 and $8 million in each of the first two years of the deal.

Tampa Bay traded a third-round draft pick in 2009 to the Penguins in exchange for the exclusive negotiating rights to forwards Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts on Saturday. On Sunday, the Lightning and Malone's camp got a deal done.

Adding some intrigue to the story, last week the Lightning hired former Penguins' player Greg Malone as their head pro scout. Greg Malone is the father of Ryan.

Malone, a 6-foot-4, 224-pound Pittsburgh native, played in 77 games with the Penguins last season and recorded 27 goals with 51 points. He also appeared in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2008 and tied for eighth in league scoring with six goals and 16 points as he helped Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup Finals. Malone set career highs for goals, assists, points, power-play goals (11) and game-winning goals (6) in 2007-08. He led the team in game-winning goals, ranked fourth in goals and third in power-play goals, while also ranking fourth among Penguin forwards in average ice time with 19:04.

The 27-year-old has played in 299 career NHL games, all with the Penguins, and amassed 87 goals, 169 points, 27 power-play goals, 11 shorthanded goals and 11 game-winning goals. Malone scored at least 20 goals in three of four NHL seasons.